Sunday, December 23, 2012

The video entitled "The image of me", which is made by Danish video artist Jeannette Ehlers and Dutch visual artist Patricia Kaersenhout for the Black Magic Women Festival 2012 in Amsterdam Southeast, portrays two women – one black and one white – who gradually change colour. The video is based on the poem "Lord Why Did You Make Me Black?" from African-American poet RuNett Nia Ebo.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Arthur Kibbelaar, Consul for Press and Cultural Affairs at the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York, will become the new director of Foreign Relations of the island Curaçao at end of this year.

Kibbelaar, who was born in Curaçao, worked at the European Union in Brussels, but also in very different countries such as Serbia, Nicaragua and Burundi. “The experiences there, in the midst of war and poverty, made me aware of the need to
invest in frameworks that holds a society together, “ he explains in
an interview with the newspaper Amigoe.

Arthur Kibbelaar is a product of the anti-colonial 1969 Curaçao uprising. "The revolt of 1969 was not for nothing a turning point, " he says. "It was the start for the children of 1969, the Afro-Curaçaoens, of a black middle class.

"Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women," said Black Dutch Cardiologist Dr. Harriette Verwey in her TEXx AmsterdamWomen talk in 2010 (see video below).

Verwey, who was born in Suriname, is one of the first cardiologists in the Netherlands
who specialised herself in women's cardiology and severe heart failure. She is connected to the Leiden University Medical
Centre (LUMC) in The Netherlands.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

From June 2 to June 10th, August Bebel Institute will be hosting the Grundtvig Workshop “Understanding Marginalization – Working for Inclusion. The Case of Berlin”. Closing date for applications: January 15th 2013

Our workshop invites people of all social backgrounds, abilities and economic status who are interested in the topic of marginalisation and social inclusion / empowerment. Individuals who personally experience(d) marginalisation and / or who benefited from empowerment policies and strategies are particularly welcome to join our workshop.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Black Portraiture[s]: The Black Body in the West, is the fifth in a series of conferences organized by Harvard University and NYU since 2004. The theme of this year’s conference is on the black body in the west. NYU faculty, international scholars, students, and invited guests will together explore new ways to discuss images and experiences of how the black body is imagined in the West. The conference is free but registration is required.

Landskrona, the main fanclub of Zenit Sint Petersburg football club, published a manifest with racist remarks. They state in their manifest that they are against the participation of black players in their team. The club would lose its identity if they integrate players from foreign regions. The arrival of Belgian player Axel Witsel and Brazilian striker Hulk this year clearly angers some of the fans.

Racial/ ethnic profiling is a form of institutionalized racism and entails the discriminatory use of personal attributes (such as skin color, ethnic or religious affiliation, national origin or language) as a basis for identity checks and searches without a concrete warrant by the police.

While the judicial issue remains unsolved in the European context, the US have achieved the broad consensus that racial/ethnic profiling is inadmissible for the conduct of police measures.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

December 19th & 20th 2012 sees the long awaited return visit from the USA of UKSoul star Marsha Ambrosius. It’s been a while since her last UK show & this will be her first UK show since achieving her first USA No.1 with her album “Late Nights & Early Mornings”.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

H/T John
On December 9, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. EST/PST, CNN will air its fifth installment of the annual documentary series Black in America. This year’s special – “Who is Black in America?” – was inspired by the scope of the (1)ne Drop Project and will tackle issues of colorism and racial identity.'

Friday, December 7, 2012

The Brazilian Soul Reggea band Natiruts ft. Argentine singer Sonia Savinell live from the hill Mirante Dona Marta in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This year the group released the DVD Acústico no Rio de Janeiro.

Synopsis: Black artists in Germany find themselves – necessarily – in a position in which subversiveness and resistance – implicit and explicit – become essential strategies to be used in their work if they wish to survive in this predominantly white context. However, after resistance is no longer necessary, what could be the vision then? And what is the central role of the artist in shaping or creating these visions?